How we source, process and present US salary and wage data
All salary and wage data on WageByState is sourced directly from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) programme — the official US government survey of wages across all occupations and industries.
The OEWS programme surveys approximately 1.1 million establishments across the United States every six months, collecting data on 830 occupations. It is the most comprehensive and statistically robust source of occupational wage data available in the United States.
We do not estimate, model or adjust the underlying BLS figures. All annual salary and hourly wage data is taken directly from published OEWS tables.
| Data point | Source | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| Annual median wage | BLS OEWS | All 50 states + DC |
| Hourly median wage | BLS OEWS | All 50 states + DC |
| City / metro wages | BLS OEWS Metro MSA | 400+ metro areas |
| Employment count | BLS OEWS | All 50 states |
| Wage percentiles | BLS OEWS | National + state |
| Experience estimates | Derived from BLS percentiles | All pages |
Experience level salary ranges are derived from BLS wage percentile data — the 10th percentile approximates entry level, the 25th percentile approximates early career, the 75th percentile approximates experienced, and the 90th percentile approximates senior or master level.
The BLS publishes new OEWS data annually, typically each January covering the previous May survey. We update all pages on WageByState within 30 days of each new BLS OEWS release. Every page displays the survey date so you can always verify how current the data is.
Current data: BLS OEWS May 2025 survey, published January 2026.
We use median wages as the primary figure on all pages. The median is the midpoint — half of all workers in that occupation and location earn more, half earn less. Medians are less distorted by extremely high or low earners than averages.
Where we display averages we label them explicitly as "average" rather than "median."
The BLS OEWS programme covers wage and salary workers only — self-employed individuals and business owners are not included. For very small states or less common occupations, the BLS may suppress data to protect confidentiality when the sample size is too small to report reliably. Where BLS data is suppressed we note this on the relevant page.
Wages on this site reflect gross earnings before tax. Take-home pay will vary depending on federal, state and local tax rates, benefit deductions and other factors.